Closed Eyes
by ijustfuckinglovehetalia217
Summary: In a struggle of unrequited love and broken spirits, can two of the most different people find love in each other? Francis is in love with someone who always breaks his heart. Ludwig is beginning to fall for someone who is devoted to someone else. Can they be together and fix the heartaches they made for themselves?
1. Chapter 1: Beginning

Hello Hello Hello so some notes here. I am so sorry if I don't update my stories. You know those stories that you don't know what to do with because you're just not as inspired to finish them?

It's just not coming yet. But hey. I'm trying to update the others. Sorry~! I love you guys.

**Closed Eyes (FANFIC) (1/?)**

_**Pairing: GerFra (Germany x France)**_  
_**Genre: Dark Romance **_  
_**Trigger Warnings: ON**_

"Sometimes, it's not a matter of how bright or dark your life is but a matter of how open your eyes are to see it. Eyes that are closed will never see beauty in anywhere" - C.J. Cee

Gilbert and Antonio guided Francis through the street and lifted him up, trying to at least move him without him toppling over. This has been a rough night for all three of them, but nobody's was as bad as the French man's. Within thirty minutes inside the bar and Francis had downed alcohol enough to get him to vomit up his heartaches to the both of them. They contemplated on taking him to his house but judging from the way he had nearly collapsed for around three times in the span of ten seconds, they decided to take him to Gilbert's house instead, it being the closest one to the bar.

Francis was instantly carried to the guest bedroom upon arrival. The couch won't do. He'll kill them both when he wakes, if they do that. The guest bedroom was well taken care of considering Ludwig keeps it in check every two weeks in case of visitors. Gilbert and Antonio set to work in taking his shoes and his jacket off, leaving him in his undershirt and boxers as he lay on the bed, groaning. A blanket was quickly tossed and covered him and soon, they left him in there. There was no need to guard him since it was most likely that he wouldn't be awake for a while.

Ludwig arrived at home shortly after Antonio left, noticing the faint tracks of chaotic dragging around in the living room. He frowned and looked around in search of his brother and his friends who are probably somewhere in the house. "Bruder…?" he called out. Then he noticed the guest room keys were on the living room table. Just then, Gilbert pops up beside him from the kitchen and he gets startled, before frowning a little and gesturing to the keys. "Who's over?" he asked quietly.

Gilbert shook his head and pursed his lips. "Francis is. He got a little carried away with the drinking and he just isn't gonna make it back to his house alive. So we brought him here." he explained. There was something about the tone of his voice that made Ludwig think that their visitor may not be botherable for a while. He simply nodded in understanding and sighed. "I suppose that's alright. I still say it's pretty irresponsible to have been drinking on a weekday. He's probably skipping work tomorrow."

Gilbert shook his head again before Ludwig only stared at him, now giving his full attention. "I don't think he's going to be working for a while. It's been such a long time since I last saw him this miserable."

Ludwig had to raise a brow on that one. It's been a while since he has last heard the word 'miserable' to describe Francis in serious context. Maybe he should lay off the topic and just go up to his room. "Well I have to go up. I have some business to take care of. You should go to bed though. It's a bit late bruder. You have an interview tomorrow."

To this, Gilbert could only groan "Do i have to? Come on, I have a friend in need. Can I skip it?" he asked. Ludwig only rolled his eyes.

"Bruder I doubt Francis would wake up before the afternoon. The interview is only from 5:00 am to 7:00 in the morning. And the deliberation wouldn't take another two hours." he pat Gilbert's shoulder "I bet you'd get that done and still come home to find him asleep. So you might as well get to bed and I'd attend to him. I got a day off tomorrow."

A skeptic look crossed over Gilbert's face "You? Tend to Francis? Do you know how?" he asked.

"I'm taking care of my older brother. I think I could handle him. If things get bad then you'd probably be back to handle that"

Finally, Gilbert sighed in resignation. "Alright. But I'm only doing that whole interview thing so that I can get into the gaming department sooner". He rushed upstairs to his own room and got ready for bed, giving Ludwig a few reminders before he finally crashed.

Ludwig, on the other hand, carefully opened the guest room door and looked at how Francis was. He found him sound asleep and went to close the lamp, leaving on only the small light across the room so there is at least a minimal amount of luminosity.

As he saw Francis's slightly puffy eyes and heard him groan in his sleep, it dawned on him that he might have quite the trouble tomorrow morning.

Ludwig awoke in cold sweat, his eyes wide open in the darkness of his room. He looked at the lighted clock and saw it was only half-past two in the morning. He sighed and rubbed his eyes to adjust to the pitch black around him. Finally, as he could already make out the features of his room, he shakily stood up.

He's had one of those bad dreams again. Dreams of the past that still occasionally haunt him. No it wasn't a tear jerking event. It could now only solicit a sigh and a shrug from him as he had already moved on from all of it. Still, he could use a drink. To at least help him relax enough to go back to sleep.

As he headed down to the kitchen, he heard a soft noise, he turned his head and the noise came again. Finally, he decided to follow the sound. It seemed to be coming from the guest room. He looked at the floor where the faint light escaped through the small space under the door. Then he listened closely and realized it was the sound of rapid breathing and gasping. Sobbing. Crying.

Francis was crying.

And Ludwig could only stand there and listen, his eyes a little confused and his expression almost blank. Almost.

This was probably something more serious than he thought. And as he could hear the small whimper that came with the sobbing, his eyebrows furrowed down even more as his chest began to thump in concern.

It _is definitely serious._


	2. Chapter 2: Getting Along

The next day was awkward and he really could not relax. Not after what he heard that night. Of course, it was so impolite of him to stay another few minutes and listen to Francis without really _doing _anything. In the end though, there really isn't much that you can do at a situation like that.

He already made some breakfast and every second, his skin prickled in a dreadful anticipation for the visitor to come out of the guest room at any given moment now. Ludwig had become so anxious with the idea of trying to make conversation with a lonely Francis, as he had never really encountered that before. Heaven knows how unprepared he was to handle that. Maybe he shouldn't have let Gilbert go so fast. He should have given him at least an hour's worth of orientation on how to babysit a sad Francis 2.0.

Nevertheless, he had no time to call Gilbert and demand him to return as he could already hear the creak of the guest room door. His breathing became uneven all of a sudden. How do you talk to a lonely French man? He hoped that Francis would at least, speak to him.

But to his surprise, Francis came in like his usual self, perky and smiling like he always does. He gave Ludwig a small pat on the shoulder as he passed by and chanted a pleasant "Bonjour Allemande" as he sat across him. He… didn't look sad at all. He seems to have taken the liberty of taking a shower in the guest bathroom and dressing up in Gil's gray sweater that he never wears. It did look better on Francis in all honesty. He's just as flamboyantly charming as ever.

For a moment there, Ludwig had begun to question whether it was really Francis whom he heard crying last night or was he just unaware how their house was haunted by a grieving spirit or something. He was a second away to believing the latter when he looked a bit closer.

Upon a better inspection, it suddenly popped out that Francis's face was a bit drawn. His eyes were a bit dull and were highlighted by unpleasant circles under them making him look tired and... yes… sad. His lips, which were formed into a smile, seemed tense… almost forced.

Maybe he was reading so much into it, but he was suddenly starting to realize how Francis might have looked that same way almost every time he sees him. He just has not noticed before as he was rarely presented an opportunity to scrutinize him up close like he was doing just now. After a while, he felt a little sad himself as to how he could have neglected something that probably should have been blatantly obvious.

Upon realizing he hasn't answered yet, Ludwig gave a small, awkward smile and greeted him back in a low murmur. Goodness this felt so unnatural. With Gilbert, it's usually "Fuck the greetings! What's for breakfast West?" and then practically nothing, unless they were drinking beer which is where they have those extreme talks that either end up in excessive tears or excessive laughter… or passing out.

Francis gave him a small chuckle "Mon dieu you practically dragged that greeting and forced it out of your mouth" he snorted and then shrugged, making Ludwig feel guilty. "It's alright though. I didn't really expect any more than that. Gil told me to behave around you" he admitted "So I'm alright. Have you had breakfast?" he asked and leaned back in his chair.

Ludwig shook his head and put down the newspaper that he was only trying hard to read but anxiety-ridden as he was, for the life of him, did not absorb a single word. "Nein. I was waiting for you" he said half-heartedly. Well it was true. He's been waiting for him to wake up. He didn't expect Francis to be this… fine.

But something told him Francis really wasn't as fine as he tried to appear to be.

The French man nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "Nice of you" he murmured, slightly subdued now. Slowly, Francis began to straighten up in his seat and re-plaster that smirk on his face as Ludwig had already noticed it slowly slipping away. Ludwig got them both some food and endured another minute or two of awkward silence as they ate.

Surprisingly, Francis smiled a bit as he ate, this time not as forced as before. He then looked at Ludwig uncertainly. "You made this?" he pointed to the food with his fork.

Ludwig nodded "Ja. I did."

Ludwig half-expected to be criticized and fought to keep his eyes from rolling but Francis shook his head as he took another bite and smiled again. "It's not bad. Better than I expected of you"

What? What did he say? Was he implying he didn't think Ludwig can cook?

Ludwig frowned a bit "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Francis laughed and shook his head again, genuinely smiling now. "You just don't look like the type to be in the kitchen. That's all I'm saying" he defended. It was almost a photographic difference from his expression before to the smile he wore now. It was obvious from Francis's expression that he was telling the truth and he was but teasing.

It made Ludwig wonder why some people misread him. He was an open book. Already, Ludwig was able to read him with not much problems. It was just so apparent when Francis was telling the truth, and when he was being real and not putting up some kind of performance and it was… just that simple to respond to him as well. Like right then and there, he took no offense on what Francis said because it was just so obvious he meant no harm in the comment.

He had to smile a bit as he was suddenly finding it simpler to talk around him "Is that so?" he asked, a brow still lifted but nevertheless, still smiling "So… what type do I look like exactly?"

Francis looked at him, looking a bit surprised at how Ludwig asked the question. He looked like he was expecting something else like… maybe for Ludwig to get angry. After a second though, Francis picked up the question with a pinch of enthusiasm. He tossed his hair to the side and took a bite of his food. "The type that gets locked into a gym and works out until it re-opens"

Ludwig was so caught off-guard by the answer that he actually burst into laughter. Francis now looked pleasantly surprised at the reaction and laughed with him quietly. After they quieted down, Ludwig tapped the table and huffed "I'm taking that as a compliment. Just so you know"

Francis nodded with a snort. "That was a compliment."

If he had known that talking with the French man would be this easy, he would have considered doing this a long time ago.

Gilbert had just finished up from his interview and apparently he was going to be informed via a call whether he got accepted or not. It was half past noon since it was traffic due to some accident. As he reached home, he sighed as he remembered he had a hungover, depressed friend to take care of. Ludwig must have struggled so hard without his awesome advice and guidance!

To his surprise, he went into the house to the sound of hushed laughing. Oh no! They must have gotten mad as they could obviously not stand each other and they're just going crazy now.

He followed the sound, coming from the guest room. Slowly creeping so he would not be caught, he peeped into the door, left ajar. Inside, he saw a certain brother of his and his best friend sitting beside the bed, facing away from him. They were looking at pictures.

"He actually wore this?" Ludwig asked Francis as he looked at it, laughing "He really wore it?"

Francis snorted "Oui. He was so drunk and he really thought he was invisible!"

They're…

…_GETTING ALONG?_

_TBC_


End file.
